Ductile gas line connecter



- New. 23, 1937. J, c. ROMINE DUCTILE GAS LINE CONNECTER Filed July 9, 1957 lillllll I IA VENTQR Jzsapr} C zjorrgz'zzev l w A TTORNE Ysenema a... 23, 1931 UNITED STATES DUCTILE GAS LINE CONNECTER .Joseph C. Romine, Detroit, Mich., assignor to William R. Wilson, Detroit, Mich.

Application July 9, 1937, Serial No. 152,807

1 Claim.

This invention relates to household gas stoves and it has particular relation to a gas line connecter for connecting the stove to the gas supply line.

The conventional method of and means for connecting household gas stoves to gas supply lines is probably so well known that it need be mentioned here only briefly. The stove is placed in position and the plumber'or other persons skilled in this particular field takes measurements so as to enable him to determine the parts necessary to make the connections. The space between the stove and the wall is almost-always very limited and it is very difiicult for anyone to work satisfactorily because of the lack of room. After the measurements are taken, time is necessary in almost every instance to cut sections of the pipe tolength, thread one or more ends of the sections, and then by means of nipples and couplings tie the sections together and to the end of the gas supply line and the end of the standard stove pipe. The final connection of course must be effected in the small spacing mentioned. Altogether it is a very unsatisfactory situation from the standpoint of time, effort, and parts required to connect a standard household gas stove to a supply line.

Aside from the foregoing, the man making the connections must bring a ,lot of tools with him, lubricant must be used, and in handling these, considerable dirt and grease result. This is not so desirable from the housewifes point of view.

Now after the stove is connected, there still remain undersirable characteristics, one of which is the immobility of the stove. -Oftentimes it is necessary to paint or for some other reason get behind the stove with a tool and it is impossible to move the stove any appreciable degree. Once the stove is positioned, it is necessary to leave it exactly in that position unless the gas line connections are removed. Then it must be placed back inthe same position or else new connections must be used.

One object of the presentinvention is to avoid all of thedisadvantages previously set forth, as well as others characterizing the prior practice, by providing a standard ductile tubing with connections enabling it-to be connected to the gas supply line and ,thestove quickly and easily and with the stove spaced from the wall a substantial distance to enable anyone to work readily behind the stove.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of this character and method of employing it, which results 2 in a connection which permits the movement of the store at any time without impairing or damaging the connection or tubing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of this character which is durable and which will withstand practically any amount of twisting and bending without rupturmg.

Other objects of the invention will become ap parent from the following description, the drawing relating thereto, and from the claims hereinafter set forth.

Referring to the drawing,

. Figure 1 is a generally perspective view, illustrating a stove having a connection constructed according to the invention, with the stove in position away from the wall;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substan tially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and on a larger scale, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the manner in which the connection may be made to the stove and gas supply line.

Referring to Figure 1, the stove is indicated at I 0, the wall of the room at H, and a gas supply line projecting shortly above the floor is in-' dicated at l2. A gas line lead from the stove is indicated at l3, and it will be understood that by connecting the parts I 2 and Hi, the burners of the stove will be connected to the gas supply line.

According to the invention a solid wall metal tubing i 5 is employed and while diiferent materials may be satisfactory, it is of course important that the metal be ductile, durable, and capable of maintaining its form and solidity even under abusive bending and twisting. It has been found that wall thickness, diameter, quality of material, and process of making all have to be considered. Aluminum tubing composed of almost pure aluminum, as for example 99% aluminum with or without a slight amount of manganese, has proven satisfactory. This is extruded and rolled to nearly finished size and then it is annealed in an oven free from oxygen and at a temperature of about 800 F. for approximately 16 minutes. It is then cooled' and extruded further to the finish size and again annealed approximately as before and allowed to cool. The metal resulting is putty soft and this '50 characteristic of the metal renders it more ductile, easy to twist and bend, and eliminates danger of cracking and deforming undesirably in cross section when bent or twisted. In'short, the softness of the metal allows it to flow easily to accommodate the bending ortwisting necessary. Moreover, undesirable strains are not built up and the grain and molecular structure is in a condition of substantial equilibrium even when bending or twisting occurs.

Copper also seems satisfactory as a material from which the tube may be made althoughmore care is required to obtain the condition of metal required. Treatment of the metal, that is, extruding and heat treatment thereof, is substantially the same as in the case of the aluminum. Due to the difference in metals, wall thickness in the case of copper is less than in the case of aluminum.

Insofar as aluminum is-concerned, the treatment of the metal as previously described provides a Rockwell hardness of 30 based on 15 T scale, with a somewhat uncertain grain size. Minimum wall thickness should be about .07 inch, with the outer diameter inch. In the case of copper, a Rockwell hardness of 35 to 40 based on the 15 T scale is suitable in this material, with minimum wall thickness of about .049 inch and outer diameter of inch. Practically pure copper is used of the electrolytic tubing type, and may include 1 to 3% phosphorus.

For the purpose of connecting the tubing to the gas line and to the stove, a nipple i6 is em ployed having athreaded socket H for threading on one or the other of the parts l2 and i3,

and this nipple has a reduced threaded portion l8 adapted to be threadedly connected to a coupling member I9. This coupling member has a substantial proportion 20 of cylindrical character which snugly but rotatably receives the end of the tubing l5, and between the threaded part of the coupling and the part 20 a 45 conical seat 2| is provided on the inner side of the coupling, and the end of the tubing is flared outwardly, as indicated at 22, so as to seat against this portion 2i. Likewise the inner end. of the nipple portion I8 has a 45 conical portion 23 adapted to engage the inner side of the flared end 22 of the tubing. Both ends of the tubing have a nipple and coupling, as shown by Figure 2, and the tubing along with the nipples and couplings constitute an article that may be sold. It may be mentioned that the nippling and coupling preferably are formed of brass, as it has been found very practical to use this material.

The flare on the end of the tube may be turned in a well known manner, although one objection to this is that the metal in the flared portion becomes thinner. Preferably the fiared portion will be formed by axially upsetting the metal under pressure so as to preserve the thickness. It has been found desirable initially to have the angle of the flared portion slightly less than the cone angles on the nipple and coupling so that in threading the nipple on the coupling, the flared portion is deflected an additional small amount. The practical result of this is that the conical surface on the nipple first contacts the outer edge of the flared portion of the tube when such edge is also out of contact with the outer part of the conical surface on the coupling. This creates a resistance to turning of the nipple which is noticeable and when the flared portion is brought into full surface contact with both conical surfaces, the operator realizes instantly that the nipple is homef. In other words, the operator has a way of knowing when the nipple has been turned to approximately proper position and a slight additional turning will insure total sealing of the conical engagement.

The inner diameter of the nipple opening adjacent its conical surface should not be less than the inner diameter of the tube or else there is danger of undesirable biting into the flared portion at the junction thereof with the tubing proper and this would undesirably weaken the junction.

In making the connections, the stove may be moved away from the Wall, as shown by'Figure 1 for example, then one of the nipples may be threaded on the end of the gas supply line I2, which of course may be accomplished by means of an ordinary wrench. Then the other nipple may be threaded on the end of the part l3 on the stove and then it is only necessary to thread the couplings over the respective portions [8 of the nipples. It is very easy to line up the coupling with the nipple and when the coupling is threaded home by means of the wrench a tight seal is obtained between the conical portions of the nipple and coupling and the flared end of the aluminum tubing. Since the aluminum is soft, it will be readily appreciated that it may be moved by the compressive action of the conical portions of the nipple and coupling to absolutely close any slight interstices that might be present. In other words, it is suiflciently soft and it will flow, so to speak, under the compressive forces, to seal the connection positively at all points.

It requires only a matter of 2 to 3 minutes to apply the nipplings and couplings, and all of this is effected by means of a single wrench. When this is done, it is only necessary to move the stove backwardly towards the wall to the position desired. The tubing being constructed of ductile aluminum may twist and bend through almost unreasonable degrees without failure, without cracking, and without decreasing the tube cross-sectional area at any point. This is highly important because if a device of this character is to be satisfactory, the one installing the connection must not be required to be so careful, or else there might be great danger of something happening if someone might move the stove in a rather careless way. This connection is of such character that if the four nipples and couplings are tightened, one can practically move the stove in any manner possible without injuring or hurting the tubing or connection in any way. Moreover, it is not difficult to move the stove back against the wall because the tubing is soft or rather sufiiciently soft so that practically no greater effort is necessary than that necessary to move the stove.

The installation of course avoids all of the disadvantages previously enumerated with respect to the old methods and devices used for connecting household gas stoves to gas supply lines. Moreover, it is cheaper to make owing principally to the fact that anyone can make the connection and even though a plumber or other person is called in to make the connection, only a little time is required and that without any hard work. After the installation is made, the stove may be moved at any time such as when it is desired to paint or clean behind the stove, and the stove may be moved back and forth almost in an unlimited manner without impairing the tubing or connections at all. Again, if the stove is removed from the house, such as when a party moves, the connection may be taken along and used for the new installation as its length is such that it ordinarily may be used in practically any situation. It of course will be understood that the tubing is substantially longer than the direct distance between the supply line and stove line 29 to permit movement of the stove back and forth and this extra length always enables using the connection in a .wide range of varying situations, such as ordinarily are present in homes.

Although only one form of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Means for connecting a household gas stove having a gas inlet line to a gas supply line comby auxiliary means extending between the ends of the two lines, and connections releasably but sealingly connecting the ends of the lines to the ends of the tubing, said tubing being of such metal that it may be bent and twisted without damage thereto by material cross-sectional deformation and without causing leakage and being of such length that the connections may be made with the stove substantially removed from its final position and thenthe stove moved to its final position during which the tubing flexes or bends as the ends of the two lines move into positions nearer each other.

JOSEPH C. ROMENE. 

